4 Kingdoms 7, verse 1. Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: ‘About this time tomorrow, at the gate of Samaria a measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and for a shekel, two measures of barley.’” 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 2. So the officer on whose hand the king relied retorted to Elisha and said, “Look, even if the Lord in heaven will make a downpour of rain, this event shall not happen.” And Elisha said, “Behold, you shall see this with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”
The Syrian Army Flees
4 Kingdoms 7, verse 3. Now at the entrance of the gate there were four leprous men. And one of them said to his neighbor, “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 4. If we say, ‘Let us go into the city,’ and there is famine in the city, we will die there. And if we sit here in this place, then we will die. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall die.” 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 5. So they rose in the darkness to head to the army camp of the Syrians. They entered the outskirts of the army camp and no one was there. 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 6. For the Lord had caused the army of Syria to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses, the noises of a very great army. For the Lord made the army of Syria say to one another, “Look, the king of Israel hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!” 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 7. So they arose in the darkness and quietly fled for their lives, leaving their tents, their horses, and their donkeys at the campsite. 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 8. And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried away from it silver and gold and clothing. Then they left and came back to enter another tent to take from there and to hide the spoils. 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 9. And one said to the others, “This is not right. This day is a day of good news, and if we remain silent and wait until the light of morning, we will find wickedness in the city. Now come here! Let us enter the city and deliver this good news to the house of the king.” 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 10. So they went and cried out with a loud voice toward the gate of the city, and proclaimed to them, saying, “We entered the army camp of Syria and behold, no one was there, not a man nor a human voice. The only things there were the tied-up horses and donkeys, and their tents, which they left intact.” 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 11. Then the gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported to the house of the king inside. 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 12. So the king arose in the night and said to his servants, “Now I will inform you as to what the Syrians are doing. They know we are hungry. Therefore they went out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive and capture the city.’” 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 13. Then one of his servants answered and said, “Indeed! Let them now take five of the remaining horses, of all that remain of the multitude of Israel, and send them there to see.” 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 14. Therefore they saddled two horses, and the king of Israel sent them after the king of Syria, saying, “Go and see.” 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 15. And they went after them even to the Jordan. Indeed all along the way, the road was full of garments and vessels which the Syrians themselves cast away in the panic. So the messengers returned and brought word to the king. 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 16. Then the people went out and plundered the army camp of Syria. And a measure of fine flour sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, true to the word of the Lord. 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 17. Now the king had appointed the officer, the one on whose hand the king relied, to have charge of the gate. But the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God said who spoke when the king came down to him. 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 18. So it happened just as Elisha said to the king, saying, “Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be sold tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria.” 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 19. Then the officer had answered Elisha with this retort, “Look, even if the Lord in heaven should make a downpour of rain, this sort of thing would never happen.” Then Elisha had answered, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” 4 Kingdoms 7, verse 20. And so it was in this way; for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.